


strong

by kyouyaed



Category: The Magnificent Seven (2016)
Genre: Angst, Cuddling, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Sharing a Bed, negative self image
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 04:00:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8431108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyouyaed/pseuds/kyouyaed
Summary: The owls and the monsters were always lurking, and Goodnight was sure they would get the best of him. Billy, on the other hand, was certain that Goodnight was strong enough to keep them at bay.





	

**Author's Note:**

> hello! this is my first mag7 fic! of course it's goodrocks <3 i hope that i've done them both justice here, and i know it will take me a few more works to fully grasp their characters, especially Goody, so please treat me kindly! concrit is always welcome! you can read it on tumblr [here](http://conspiracieys.tumblr.com/post/152547155412/goodrocks-and-14-but-lmk-if-it-doesnt-work)! this fic is unedited so i apologize in advance! i'll edit when i can. please enjoy!

Goodnight didn't think he was a strong man. He didn't think he was anything to sniff at, didn't think he deserved the recognition that he had. He may have been in the war, and he was good with a rifle. Could hold his own in a fight. But all those lives he took stained his soul, and Goodnight Robicheaux was completely certain he wasn't a good man. And when he stared down the length of his rifle, fingers trembling to take the shot, Faraday urging him on behind him, Goodnight couldn't do it. He wasn't strong enough, or good enough, and he couldn't do it.

On the other hand, in Goodnight's opinion, Billy Rocks was an amazing, strong man. Billy was always with him, always there, within touching distance when Goodnight needed the comfort or when Billy needed the comfort. Billy, who could kill a man hundreds of different ways with a knife and was equally handy with a gun. Billy, who took care of Goodnight, kept him safe from the owls and the nightmares and the world. Billy was a good man, he took shots, and he covered for Goodnight when Goodnight couldn't do it.

"You know," Billy said when they were finally alone that night, long after dinner, the candles blown out, only moonlight seeping in the open window in their room at the Elysium Hotel, "your gun wasn't jammed. Faraday could have made a bigger deal of it. Are you sure you're okay, Goody?"

Goodnight frowned and rolled onto his back, gazing up at the blackness of the ceiling. In the dark, Goodnight imagined his frown seeping away into the shadows, leaving him with a blank space where his mouth would be, which would be better than this. Billy's hand brushed his as Billy rolled over as well. Goodnight could feel his gaze burning into the side of his face.

"I'm no good man," Goodnight murmured into the darkness, flinching when Billy rested a hand on his arm. "But I couldn't take the shot. The owls are around town, Billy."

Billy sighed quietly, and Goodnight imagined his breath curling away to join his vanished frown, far away from them, leaving them with a little less stress and tension.

"You're a great man, Goody," said Billy gently, laying his cheek on the back of his hand. His hair brushed Goodnight's arm and the sharpshooter let out a calm breath at the collective feeling of Billy's weight and hair. "The owls aren't here. Nothing can get you here."

With a soft shake of his head that rolled through the pillows and made Billy shift, Goodnight said, "They're always around because I'm not... Because I'm weak. They'll come for me."

"They won't." Billy's voice, though quiet, was confident. The monsters lurking, and Goodnight knew that things lurked in the dark, would be scared by the confidence, the strength, a good man like Billy carried.

That was why the monsters and the owls lurked around Goodnight. He wasn't good, or strong, and despite what Billy said, Goodnight knew they were always there, waiting, day or night, but they were stronger at night when Goodnight was weaker. But times when Billy was that confident, the creatures shied away, like someone shined the sun directly onto them for a moment.

"One day," Goodnight said softly, "they'll come for me. You might not be there to scare them off. They're scared of good men, Billy, but they come for the weak."

Billy took a sharp breath and the air fell silent around them. For a while, Goodnight wondered if Billy was coming around and agreeing with him, or if Billy just couldn't argue with the things that waited for the weak.

By the time Billy answered, Goodnight was nearly asleep, soft snores waking him up every few minutes only for him to fall right back into that half sleeping state again.

"Hey." Billy's voice was so low that it could have been a part of Goodnight's half cooked dream. "I'm with you, okay? Always." Billy took a deep breath, one that sucked fear from the air and turned it into resolve on the exhale. "Nothing will get you, because where you go, I go. Where I go, you go."

When Goodnight woke up, to the sounds of Rose Creek's residents waking up, Billy was curled with his back to Goodnight but he was tucked up against him, like he was protecting Goodnight.

"They didn't get me," mused Goodnight to himself, keeping his voice low so as not to wake the man pressed against him.

"Because you're a good person," Billy's muffled voice replied, and Goodnight flinched, almost rolling off the bed. Billy snapped out at the last moment and grabbed Goodnight's wrist to keep him from crashing to the floor.

"Holy cow," breathed Goodnight, his heart pounding. "You were awake? Billy..." Goodnight let out a startled, happy laugh. "Warn a fellow next time."

Billy let Goodnight's wrist go and rolled over, a small smile playing about his lips. "Sorry," he murmured, though he clearly wasn't sorry at all.

"Je- _sus_ , Billy," scoffed Goodnight, shaking his head slightly. A small smile overcame his face when Billy draped his arm across Goodnight's middle and propped his head up on his arm to stare down at the ex-Confederate. "What?" asked Goodnight when Billy only stared down at him.

"The owls," Billy answered, "didn't come in. It's because you're a good person. A strong person." He gave a brief smile.

"Hm," is all Goodnight said for the moment, and he turned his head so he was facing Billy more directly. He traced his gaze over Billy's face, drinking in his high cheekbones and the way the creeping daybreak cast Billy in shadow but softly illuminated him in an outline. His hair hung over his face and shoulder and his dark eyes never strayed from Goodnight's face.

"Well," Goodnight finally broke the content quiet, "should we get up?"

Billy only nodded in response, although he didn't withdraw his arm from across Goodnight's stomach.

They laid there together for a while more, and eventually Billy dropped back down onto the bed, turning his head to face Goodnight, their noses brushing. For a good long while, they laid there together, content to pretend they didn't have to get up.

And then-

"Hey!" Faraday's voice shattered their little bubble and Goodnight grinned, rolling his head away to stare up at the ceiling as Faraday pounded on their room door. "Get up! Got food cookin'!" The knocking paused for a moment, as did Faraday's voice, but both were quickly resumed. "Goodnight? Billy? You alive in there?"

"Shut up, Faraday," Vasquez's voice came, fading in, though it faded away when he next spoke, "They're probably avoiding you, _guero_."

Faraday's sigh could be heard beyond the door and, shortly after, he stomped off, his footsteps creaking the stairs as he went.

Goodnight burst into giggles the second he was sure Faraday was far enough from the room. "I guess we best be gettin' up then, huh Billy?"

This time, though, Goodnight pushed Billy's arm from his middle, though his fingertips lingered on Billy's wrist for a moment more.

"C'mon," he urged. "Up we go before Mr. Faraday comes back and actually kicks down the door." Goodnight snickered. "Now wouldn't that be somethin'? Tonight's another night, anyway. We'll be back here, huh?"

Billy nodded as he sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. "Another night to keep the monsters and owls at bay."

Goodnight chose not to respond, instead going about getting himself presentable before going downstairs. In the back of his mind, though, he wondered if Billy was right. If they, he, could keep the monsters at bay another night, keep the owls out of the room again. They stayed away last night, but certainly only because of Billy. Because, in the end, even if Billy was confident in Goodnight's strength, Goodnight knew the truth. It was always Billy who was the strong one between them, the good one. And Goodnight dragged the dead after them like he was chained to their rotting corpses and had lost the key.

But, he mused as he settled on the bed to wait for Billy to take his turn getting ready, he also hadn't let the dead drag him down. Between him and Billy, maybe they could keep the monsters away and the owls outside. After all, Billy was the strong one, the good one, and Goodnight knew he could stand to learn a few things from him.


End file.
